Pairing by design
A quick introduction
There is an energy that forms from the pairing of two people. The blending of minds rendered through an interesting story. A story that provides a pathway to harness the energy and creative momentum generated through pairing.
Pairing is the start of a creative process, forming a fundamental design skill both in thought and action. The bringing of two entities together to form something new. It is a life force in nature and evolution. It could be thoughts, words, colours, shapes, textures, tastes, smells, sounds, objects, or people. A generative process of sensations, objects, and ideas. Connecting two entities to create something new. Not opposites, not disparate entities, rather entities in harmony of purpose.
You + fresh bed sheets = relaxation
Me — motivation = dirty house
Grumpy me + cup of tea = reflective time
Curiosity — risk assessment = bad lesson
Pear blossoms + jasmine green tea = bliss
Morning exercise + sunshine = better health
Favourite colour + new bamboo shirt = confidence
Routine + motivation = rewards
It is the confidence and skill to purposefully bring things together to achieve a desired result.
I encourage you to participate (this requires reflection and dwelling on concepts, words and images) in the story, try, explore and develop a personal palate and expand your process skills in integrative approaches. The story involves multiple literacies, and what ideas develop in one area are perfectly transferable.
What makes a perfect pair? Nature is a significant source of inspiration on many levels.
For those who struggle with a literacy of colours, just look to nature for guidance.
The word pair is a squishy word. Layers of meaning unraveling within different contexts. Each layer generating a multitude of meanings and further abstractions.
Have you found your perfect pair?
Partner, sunglasses, jeans, fruit …
The language gets confusing when describing objects;
A pair of jeans; only 1 physical item but comprising 2 legs, a pair of sunglasses; 1 item but 2 lenses.
As a basic definition, a pairing can refer to;
Two things sharing similar appearance characteristics that can be used together or joined.
Two people who have a relationship or do something together. What a happy pair. But it can quickly become a toxic relationship if pairing by absorption occurs.
Two beings that come together to reproduce, a breeding pair. What an adorable baby. A different group of genetic elements merging, not an equal distribution but a balance. Characteristics and tone emerge. Hopefully, still an adorable baby.
Let’s explore pairing. Here is a little taste.
Pairing is not a binary process. On and off are just 2 different states or perspectives of the same entity. Pairing requires two entities to come together. The sum of the parts creates something new. Something new that emerges from a union, or relationship. To pair something also requires a relational mechanism; the type of force that brings things together, and a resulting entity or effect. The examples at the start used a very simplified and abstracted mathematical relational mechanism of + and -. You + fresh bed sheets = relaxation. Obviously, there are complete processes embedded in these operators. The bed sheets just don’t automatically appear in a clean condition, ready to be added to the bed. Be cautious of the assumptions hidden in the relational mechanism.
These are the basic pairing processes.
I don’t dance, I just bounce up and down. Does up+down=dance?
Pairing can be intentional, to meet a desired need or gain a new perspective, or it can be unintentional. Those surprises that add a bit of wonder and confusion to life. Similar to watching me dance. A good example of pairing thoughts together that should never be paired. Also like pairing by wishful thinking, relying on surprises to lead to a desired outcome. Instead, it takes process, knowledge, and skill. It is a creative process based on the understanding that knowledge emerges through the physical act in relation to context. Several isolated entities do not produce a new entity any more than a heap of bricks produces a house. We must put the isolated entities in order and bring about structural relations. Only then do we have something to start from, to analyse, to build, to reflect, to critique, and to improve.
We don’t exist in isolation. An object assumes a maker or an observer, a background or context.
Maker + Context = Object
Like me demonstrating my disco moves (basically up and down) at a ballroom dancing event. Context shapes the actions. What we perceive as appropriate in one context is not in another. Cultural and perceptual bias are heavily embedded in the relational operator. You behave differently in a restaurant compared to an outdoor bbq. The background in any context influences the relationship. As an example in the language of colour. When 2 colours are brought into proximity with another, the overall perceptual characterises of each change. We can also see this same thing with people; the perception of a person is altered by who they are paired with. A mother and child, same mother with an elderly relative, same mother with a business partner, same mother with friends at a wild party, etc. Context changes people’s perception of entities.
Pairing creates a perceptual way of looking at the world, not as problematic binary opposites. It is not a competitive act where a binary result emerges, e.g. win lose. It is a creative act where something new emerges. Something not inherent and prescribed as an outcome of the process. If you continually repeat the same pairing process, the same entity emerges. Repeat the same process and get the same results. Tradition emerges at the expense of creativity and diversity. Sensations of comfort found in tradition but shadowed by thoughts of being on a repetitive treadmill. Stuck in a rut. Boring!
The language of design when focused on an abstract level can transfer the same inspiration or intention to manipulate any entities e.g., food, fashion, flavours, aromas, graphics, human relationships, natural elements, language, music, etc. Learn the process skills of pairing and transfer them into any context. Words such as contrast, complement, highlight, harmony, rhythm, match, union, coupling, link, synergy, bond, etc. create a written language to describe relational elements of the pairing process. Words that move beyond simple mathematical relationships. The process itself creates change; reactions, interactions, repulsion, additions, and multiplications. Patterns emerge that can only be described using a pattern language. The context in which the pairing occurs directly influences the entities. Harmony and rhythm, you can create a rhythm with a single note; it’s the space between notes that creates the beat.
(Beat+silence) x repeated = rhythm
The process of pairing shares aspects of the familiar story found in food. Apple and cheese. Chocolate and avocado. Strawberries and balsamic vinegar. Watermelon and salt. All elements that exist perfectly on their own, but new characteristics emerge when paired. Pear and jasmine pair perfectly together and then can connect with other elements to create something extraordinary. Not perceived through the lens of competition, but through something different.
Pairing supports diversity. Don’t waste the generative power of diversity.
Let’s play.
Exploring through play is great for learning. It is even more powerful when you can apply learning to practical applications. This exploration adopts a multiple literacy approach where concepts are free to bounce between literacies. Literacies can pair together to improve understanding, gain perspective, and create new thoughts.
Maths
If you are a friend of maths, then you might find this story confronting. Math has a widespread reputation for being the subject students hate. If you are in this category and don’t get excited about numbers and formulas, show a little diversity of perspective.
Maths is an abstract language used to explore relationships and develop insight into the physical world. I’m an advocate of maths, but not in the linear way it is commonly taught, and the lack of creative understanding when concepts merge back into the physical world.
Pair two entities together and we get a whole new entity. 1+1=2
One apple brought into contact with another apple, and we have two entities that share similar characteristics.
🍎 + 🍎 = 🍎 🍎
The language of design advances meaning beyond 1+1=2 based in the language of arithmetic. We can glance at the situation through modifying the formula, 1+1=3. (two entities and a relationship to create a whole). From a language of arithmetic, this makes little sense but transfer meaning to a design language and we get 2 entities (number 1) two relationship symbols (+ sign and = sign) and the representation of the whole (number 3). In a design language, there is a lot more going on. But we have more going on when we place this abstract process back into a context. The formula merges into 1+1=infinity. We always need at least 2 entities, as things don’t exist in isolation.
Object+context=relationship
1+1=3 OR ∞
Put two elements together and they influence each other, place in context and new patterns emerge with infinite creative possibilities.
One apple might satisfy me but two affords the opportunity to share with a friend. New meaning emerges from the pattern.
MY🍎 + 🍎(?) = me + friend
But people aren’t math problems.
1 person’s value + another person’s values= conflict
Not necessarily so. They could work in harmony or any other infinite number of possibilities. Also, they just don’t exist in isolation. Contextual elements affect perceptions and action, e.g. they may be in a work environment, on a sporting field, in a classroom. The energy is created by bringing elements together, but the context influences the result.
Let’s go back to maths and explore sets through the design of paired relationships. Did you know that one of the most fundamental concepts in mathematics is a set? A set is a collection of well-defined, unordered elements. All this means is that it is clear which pieces belong in the set, and their order in the set isn’t important.
apple+apple=friend
(Apple assumes existence of a tree)
Me+hammock =Relaxation (use capital letter to identify the name of a set, thus Me is a combination of elements and Relaxation is a combination of elements that are different for everyone)
(Apple assumes existence of a tree)+(Me+hammock)=relaxation
Hopefully, you are getting the idea.
The story told through the language of maths meanders through geometry with its language of form, calculus with its language of movement and change, and topology with its language of surfaces and volume.
Colour
Colour theory and mixing is a descriptive science. Johannes Itten, when working at the Bauhaus, developed some innovative thoughts on colour theory. He linked the languages of maths and colours together, pairing numerical patterns with colours. Johannes is most remembered for his colour wheel. In the centre are the three primary colours. Colours that can’t be created by mixing other colours. (yellow, blue, red).
Colour is a truly powerful tool that helps you tell your story, set the right mood, emphasise certain elements in your work, and make everything look better and more complete. Taking it further the contextual elements influences the perception of colour, natural light, shadow, etc. Taking it even further, colour influence perception and the psychology of colour. Colours associated with moods and feelings, e.g. moody blue, a bit green around the gills.
Colour is also tagged with culturally specific meaning eg red=hot or danger.
The literacy of working with colours starts to emerge.
A man’s character always takes its hue, more or less, from the form and colour of things about him. Frederick Douglass (c. 1818–1895)
What happens when everyone chooses white? Clothes, houses, appliances, kitchens, bathrooms, cars, etc.
White+White=more white
Something seems to be missing? Diversity in all its forms! If you don’t have diversity, you keep reinforcing the same thoughts and actions. Mixing white with white. This is not paired, just addition. Literacy in the language of colours is missing.
Words
Words also have a graphic nature. Pair the two languages together and stronger meaning emerges.
Lots of words are hollow in their meaning. They can have many underlying meanings.
Words can be flipped and present the opposite meaning (called ambigrams).
Pairing words is a common literary practice to link ideas together.
Paired words assume a hidden relational operator. Think what the hidden thing is that connects these word combinations. Dwell awhile to reveal the layered ideas in paired words. Compound words such as toothbrush, workaholic; work and alcohol, mailbox (one of the first super-spreaders) follow the same pattern.
Smell
Fragrances, odorants, essential oils, aromas, etc., these are all familiar things to most people, but do you have a working literacy in this medium?
Do you speak perfume? A crash course in conversational perfume may well be in order.
We have infused fragrance in products for thousands of years. Scent is a medium that is used to compose stories, both natural and human. It requires deft manipulation and skill.
Therefore, it is so often so elusive. With perfume, it is always invisible, but nevertheless, tells a story in its wake to all those who know how to listen.
Scent has its own language of harmony, notes; top middle and base, accents, accords, concentration, dry down, sillage, etc. Scent doesn’t exist in isolation. It blends with surrounding elements and it influences individuals’ sensory organs differently. It blends with memory, exposes our biases, and usually works in the shadows.
Bathing in perfume is like constantly yelling in someone else’s face. Some people take the expression “wearing a perfume” literally.
Fashion
The obvious surface trend. A visual language used to create layers of meaning.
Colours used to pair emotional meaning and context.
Patterns directing attention and connecting ideas.
Form follows function = discussion
Stories of morals, values and traditions told through the language of fashion.
The Emperor has no clothes. A story about a vain emperor whose favourite thing was buying and wearing the latest style of clothes? The result was two swindlers pulling a fraud on an exhibitionistic emperor, only perceptible by the wise; a young boy.
Emperor+vanity=no clothes
Consumer+vanity=exploitation
That’s enough playing. Let’s pair some things together.
Pairing + your engagement = creativity
When humans put two things together, they invented inequality.
The bringing of two things together affords opportunities to make comparison or critique. We can critique any aspect of the process, or the resulting entity. Comparison usually takes place in a curious atmosphere of assumed consensus, with consensus viewed as a binary process (for or against). A sound critiquing process adds colour, depth and diversity to the perceptual process involved in understanding a pattern (the thing being analysed). It affords opportunities for the relational operators to be explored without the shadow of abstraction. Dynamic relationships that value harmony and arguments. Diversity, not imposed consensus.
You are getting the idea. There are many mediums available to play with some of these process ideas. This is just an introduction.
Miracle + dream = you
